Feral cats find a safe haven in Woodstock

Volunteers help feed, neuter wild animals

June 05, 2008|By Carolyn Starks, Tribune reporter

Kathy Schoener was driving through Woodstock on a summer day in 2005 when she heard a piercing cry. She stopped and tracked the sound to the back of a building, where she found a group of cats and kittens feeding from a garbage can.

Schoener tried to care for the animals at her home, but they were too wild, clawing and hissing. So the retired teacher placed them in an abandoned two-room dwelling, which has become a kind of halfway house for cats, a place where they are protected from predators and the elements.

"It's not their fault," said Schoener of Crystal Lake.

"I'm not going to sit back and watch them suffer."

Schoener's volunteer efforts stand out even in McHenry County, which has more than 400 managed feral cat colonies, according to the county Department of Health. Few have gone to the lengths she has to take care of a colony, officials say.

It used to be a crime to feed stray cats, an issue that long has divided animal lovers about whether or not caring for wild cats was a public health risk.

McHenry was the first county in the state to make a breakthrough. After a two-year debate and an 18-month pilot program, the County Board in 2006 approved a trap, neuter and release program.

Under the ordinance, volunteers such as Schoener can trap feral cats, spay or neuter them and then either return them to managed feral cat colonies, or put them up for adoption.

"They are unsung heroes, they really are," said Joyce Crosbie, president of the Animal Outreach Humane Society of McHenry County, which coordinates the feral cat effort with other animal welfare groups.

"What we went through to get this legalized in McHenry County was unbelievable. No one could understand why would anyone want to waste their money on these animals."

Schoener was a teacher for 24 years in Wisconsin before moving to McHenry County in 2001. Unable to find a job, she was looking for something to do when she stumbled on those hungry cats and discovered a new mission in life.

Schoener teamed up with Allyson Jackson, who worked in a nearby downtown Woodstock office and also had been feeding the cats. Together, they came up with a plan to care for the cats in a run-down house set back from a road in an industrial part of town.

After searching property records, Schoener found the owner, a Virginia woman who said her aunt had bequeathed the home to her. She agreed to let Schoener use it for the cats and had legal papers drawn up for approval.

Schoener and Jackson visited the house, taking turns to fill up food and water bowls.

Schoener nailed wooden ledges high on the walls so the cats could escape raccoons and coyotes. She also took the cats to veterinarians where they were spayed or neutered.

The names they gave the cats came easily.

Hope because she survived a broken back and once even jumped into Jackson's car like a pet. There were Mariah and Spanky and dozens of others who stopped in once and were never seen again.

Schoener installed a small door so the cats could come and go as they please.

Inside the house, a large table covered in plastic is loaded with donated food. Two garbage cans are filled with cat food. There are fluffy store-bought pet beds, food and water dishes and a dozen animal crates.

The floor is carpeted with straw. A contractor even volunteered to repair leaks in the roof.

Schoener now has five helpers who take turns feeding the cats and looking for new ones. So far, they have trapped and neutered or spayed 25 cats.

Kittens haven't been seen in their colony for two summer seasons, which to Schoener spells success.

"Hopefully, one day, this shelter won't exist. That's the ultimate goal," she said.